Student stops gunman, saves lives at Seattle Pacific University

John Meis, an engineering major at Seattle Pacific University, stopped a gunman on campus by confronting him with pepper spray.

According to The New York Daily News, the gunman walked in Otto Miller Hall, where Meis volunteers at a security desk, and began shooting Thursday. After shooting four people, the gunman stopped to reload his gun and Meis stepped in, attacking the gunman with his only weapon - a can of pepper spray. Meis then knocked the gunman to the ground and held him there with the help of a few others.

"I could have been one of these people that was injured or in critical condition," Patrick Maguire, a friend of Meis', told KOMO. "A lot of (students) were in that building and he stopped him in the lobby. He didn't get any farther than that. I'm grateful for him yeah."

The gunman was identified as Aaron Ybarra, 26, who is not a student at the University. The gunman shot four people, killing one, a 19-year-old. Of the other three a 22-year-old has been released from the hospital, a 24-year-old remains in satisfactory condition and a 20-year-old is in critical conditions after several hours of surgery according to Seattle police.

The university issued a lockdown as soon as they were notified of the gunman. Several students were in the building taking final exams when the gunman fired. The gunman had fired multiple shots and still had a lot of ammo left over.

Officials believe that if the hero at Seattle Pacific had not stopped the gunman, then the incident could have left many others wounded or dead according to Paul McDonagh, assistant police chief ABC News noted.

The shooting was something students at Seattle Pacific University never expected to happen on their campus. The students gathered at a First United Methodist church on campus to pray for those affected by the shooting later on that day. All classes and activities for the university were cancelled for Friday.